Democrats and Hollywood in a tizzy over losses in Georgia and South Carolina

In the aftermath of special elections victories on Tuesday for Republican Karen Handel in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, and Republican Ralph Norman in South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District. Democrats and leftists appear to be disconsolate and seeking for answers. Despite months of news coverage of investigations into supposed collusion between Donald Trump’s political organization and Russian undertaken by a special counsel and Congress, rumors of White House staff changes, impeachment plans, and confrontational hearings on Capitol Hill, Democrats did not see a victory last night. One LGBT progressive likened Handel to a burning pile of garbage.

Karen Handel is proof that ignorant, desperate Americans will vote for a dumpster fire if they think "their values" are under attack...

In contrast, Handel gave no evidence of triumphalism in the wake of Ossoff's loss. Just after 10:30 pm on Tuesday night, Handel told her supporters that Ossoff had conceded. "He was more than gracious and he thanked me for a spirited campaign," said Handel. "And I wish him and Alisha all the best in the new life that they are going to be starting," Handel said in reference to Ossoff's fiancee, Alisha Kramer. Significantly, Handel thanked President Trump, who had tweeted in his support for her campaign recently. This got the crowd at Handel's victory speech cheering, to which they added chants of "Trump, Trump, Trump."

The race in Georgia was necessitated because of the resignation of Tom Price, who now serves as secretary for health and human services. In South Carolina, Republican Rick Mulvaney’s departure to serve as Trump’s budget director required a replacement. Norman beat Democrat Archie Parnell, a business manager for Goldman Sachs. Much of the media attention was focused on Georgia, where soft-spoken, pro-life Handel was assailed by fans of Planned Parenthood and affiliated feminists.

Progressives and celebrities opened their checkbooks for newcomer Jon Ossoff: a Democratic candidate who did not live in the district he was hoped to represent. Despite the fact that the election became the most expensive in history for a House seat, it was all for naught for the Dems. In much the same way that Hillary Clinton highlighted so-called “deplorables” for thwarting her plans for a supposedly inevitable win last November, Democrats still cannot grasp that Donald Trump was elected.

Among the reactions Democrats and allies are trotting out for Ossoff’s defeat in Georgia are the following:

1) Feminist author Jill Filipovic has concluded that Republicans are evil. She tweeted before dawn on Wednesday, “At what point is this not a failure of Democrats but toxic, vindictive voters willing to elect hateful bigots?” Later, Filipovic wrote: “I know, it's more convenient to blame the party for just not convincing people. But what kind of ppl vote for candidates like Handel, Trump?”

Warming to the topic, she wrote: “At some point we have to be willing to say that yes, lots of conservative voters are hateful and willing to embrace bigots.” Filipovic was not finished. “Some are even motivated by bigotry - it's the bigotry that speaks to them. There's no winning that if Dems keep their soul.” And to cap it off, she wrote: “Maybe instead of trying to convince hateful white people, Dems should convince our base - ppl of color, women - to turn out. Cater to them.” Filipovic should know. She’s white and hateful herself.

2) After losing in both Georgia and South Carolina, many Democrats think that dodging further to the left and towards Bernie Sanders and transgenderism may improve their fortunes. Former Fox News contributor, Sally Kohn -- a lesbian writer and community organizer -- wrote on the evening of Democrats’ destruction, “Best thing that could come out of the #GA06 results is for Democratic Party to finally give up its self-destructive obsession with centrism.”

3) The Washington Post’s senior correspondent for Congressional affairs, Paul Kane, penned an article titled, “Ossoff chose civility and it didn’t work. How do Democrats beat Trump?” Apparently convinced that civil discourse is a bad thing, Kane wrote that something more drastic that offering debates, different points of view (or maybe even a return to the center where most Americans live) is needed. “The most passionate Democratic activists have wanted a full-frontal assault on Trump and congressional Republicans, angrily denouncing party leaders for not aggressively supporting more progressive candidates,”

Kane wrote. “So Ossoff chose the high priest route instead of the fierce warrior. It was civil disobedience rather than civil unrest. And he still lost, by an even wider margin than the almost forgotten Parnell.”

It has been said that Washington is Hollywood for ugly people. What would be the corollary? Perhaps: Hollywood is Washington for stupid people? Certainly, Hollywood has provided plenty of reasons to conclude that the later of the two maxims may be true, especially overnight. Here are some Hollywood reactions:

1) The musician known as “Moby” (a.k.a. Richard Melville Hall) issued laments on social media. One of his tweets included a photo of a downcast puppy. He wrote “Trump is a corrupt, ignorant buffoon with record low approval ratings and Democrats still can’t win? Hey Democrats: Stop being …” Earlier, Moby wrote: “Dear Democrats, at some point it would be nice if you learned how to win elections.” Moby recently released a video in which President Trump is a depicted as a Godzilla-like anime monster. The musician tweeted: “The ignorance and vitriol on the part of Trump supporters will make it really hard to feel sympathy when they lose their healthcare.”

2) Actor Billy Eichner tried the time-worn trope of accusing a Republican of hating on homosexuals. He tweeted: “Handel is homophobic. She’s a terrible person, a slowly-but-surely dying symbol of the past.”

Karen Handel is homophobic. She's a terrible person, a slowly-but-surely dying symbol of the past. https://t.co/hUNCUz5BpT